Reversing valve construction and method of making the same

ABSTRACT

A reversing valve construction having a housing provided with a chamber carrying a movable valve member therein that controls ports of a valve seat of the housing through the relative position of a cavity of the valve member relative to the ports, the ports comprising first, second and third ports disposed in spaced apart and straight line relation and the cavity bridging the first and second ports while exposing the chamber to the third port when the valve member is in one position thereof and bridging the second and third ports while exposing the chamber to the first port when the valve member is in another position thereof. The valve member carries a flexible annular sealing member that is disposed between an annular surface of the valve member and the valve seat and surrounds the cavity to seal the cavity to the valve seat while permitting sliding movement therebetween. The housing carries a biasing unit that is operatively associated with the valve member and the housing to urge and flex the sealing member into sealing engagement with the valve seat so as to tend to sealingly conform the flexible sealing member to the contour of the valve seat. The valve member has a rigid annular projection extending from the annular surface thereof and engaging the annular sealing member outboard of and around the cavity.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is divisional patent application of its copendingparent patent application, Ser. No. 621,608, filed June 18, 1984, nowU.S. Pat. No. 4,564,045.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an improved reversing valve construction andto a method of making the same.

2. Prior Art Statement

It is known to provide a reversing valve construction having a housingmeans provided with a chamber carrying a movable valve member thereinthat controls port means of the valve seat means of the housing meansthrough the relative position of a cavity of the valve member relativeto the port means, the port means comprising first, second and thirdports disposed in spaced apart and straight line relation and the cavitybridging the first and second ports while exposing the chamber to thethird port when the valve member is in one position thereof and bridgingthe second and third ports while exposing the chamber to the first portwhen the valve member is in another position thereof. The valve membercarries a flexible annular sealing member that is disposed between anannular surface of the valve member and the valve seat means andsurrounds the cavity to seal the cavity to the valve seat means whilepermitting sliding movement therebetween. The housing means carriesbiasing means that is operatively associated with the valve member andthe housing means to urge and flex the sealing member into sealingengagement with the valve seat means so as to tend to sealingly conformthe flexible sealing member to the contour of the valve seat means.

For example, see the following three U.S. Patents:

(1) U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,905 - Bauer

(2) U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,483 - Bauer

(3) U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,469 - Bauer

It is also known to provide a reversing valve construction having ahousing means provided with a movable valve member therein that isoperatively interconnected to a piston unit disposed in the housingmeans and having opposed piston heads each of which is disposed insliding and sealing engagement with an internal peripheral surface ofthe housing means so as to define a main chamber between the pistonheads and a pair of outboard control chambers respectively between thepiston heads and the opposed ends of the housing means, each piston headhaving bleed orifice means interconnecting its respective controlchamber to the main chamber, each of the piston heads having a poppetvalve member for closing a valve seat carried by the respective end ofthe housing means and leading to its respective control chamber.

For example, see the following two U.S. Patents:

(4) U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,312 - Greenawalt

(5) U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,670 - Bauer et al

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one feature of this invention to provide a reversing valveconstruction having improved sealing of the main valve member thereof toits valve seat means while still permitting sliding movement relativethereto so as to minimize fluid leakage between the high pressurechamber of the reversing valve construction and its low pressureconnection for the reasons fully set forth in the aforementioned U.S.Pat Nos. 4,144,950; 4,213,483 and 4,240,469 whereby such three U.S.Patents are being incorporated into this disclosure by this referencethereto.

In particular, it was found according to the teachings of this inventionthat an annular sealing member can be carried by the main valve memberof the reversing valve construction between the main valve member andthe valve seat means to conform to the contour of that valve seat meansthrough the use of a rigid annular projection on the main valve memberwhich urges the annular flexible sealing member into sealing engagementby a biasing means that is operatively interconnected to the housingmeans and the main valve member as well as by the resulting pressuredifferential that acts across the valve member.

For example, one embodiment of this invention provides a reversing valveconstruction having a housing means provided wtih a chamber carrying amovable valve member therein that controls port means of a valve seatmeans of the housing means through the relative position of a cavity ofthe valve member relative to the port means, the port means comprisingfirst, second and third ports disposed in spaced apart and straight linerelation and the cavity bridging the first and second ports whileexposing the chamber to the third port when the valve member is in oneposition thereof and bridging the second and third ports while exposingthe chamber to the first port when the valve member is in anotherposition thereof. The valve member carries a flexible annular sealingmember that is disposed between an annular surface of the valve memberand the valve seat means and surrounds the cavity to seal the cavity tothe valve seat means while permitting sliding movement therebetween. Thehousing means carries a biasing means that is operatively associatedwith the valve member and the housing means to urge and flex the sealingmember into sealing engagement with the valve seat means so as to tendto sealingly conform the flexible sealing member to the contour of thevalve seat means. The valve member has a rigid annular projectionextending from the annular surface thereof and engaging the annularsealing member outboard of and around the cavity.

It is another feature of this invention to provide improved poppet valvemeans on the piston heads of a reversing valve construction.

In particular, it was found according to the teachings of this inventionthat improved sealing of the respective poppet valve member of a pistonhead of a reversing valve construction with its associated valve seatmeans can be provided if that poppet valve member is universally mountedso as to self-align itself when moved against its respective valve seatmeans by the piston head assembly.

For example, another embodiment of this invention provides a reversingvalve construction having a housing means provided with a movable valvemember therein that is operatively interconnected to a piston unitdisposed in the housing means and having opposed piston heads of whichis disposed in sliding and sealing engagement with an internalperipheral surface of the housing means so as to define a main chamberbetween the piston heads and a pair of outboard control chambersrespectively between the piston heads and opposed ends of the housingmeans. Each piston head has a bleed orifice means interconnecting itsrespective control chamber to the main chamber. Each piston head has apoppet valve member for closing a valve seat carried by the respectiveend of the housing means and leading to its respective control member.Each poppet valve member has a stem provided with an end that isuniversally mounted to its respective piston head so as to self-alignthe poppet valve member with its respective valve seat when movedthereagainst by the piston unit.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedreversing valve construction having one or more of the novel features ofthis invention as set forth above or hereinafter shown or described.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved method ofmaking such a reversing valve construction, the method of this inventionhaving one or more of the novel features of this invention as set forthabove or hereinafter shown or described.

Other objects, uses and advantages of this invention are apparent from areading of this description which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof and wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of one embodiment of theimproved reversing valve construction of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 3--3 of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of the main valvemember of the reversing valve construction of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the parts of the main valvemember of FIG. 4 assembled together.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the left endof the reversing valve construction of FIG. 1 and illustrates oneembodiment of the improved poppet valve member of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and illustrates another embodiment ofthe reversing valve construction of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 8--8 of FIG.7.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 9--9 of FIG.8.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the various parts for formingthe main valve member of the reversing valve construction of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating the parts of FIG. 10partially assembled together.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating the parts of FIG. 10 in theirfinally assembled condition.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the spring means of the reversing valveof FIG. 7 that urges the main valve member of FIG. 12 in its valve seatsealing relation.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary left-hand view of the reversing valveconstruction of FIG. 7 and illustrates another embodiment of theimproved poppet valve member of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the various features of this invention are hereinafter describedand illustrated as being particularly adapted to provide a reversingvalve construction for a heat pump system, it is to be understood thatthe various features of this invention can be utilized singly or in anycombination thereof to provide a reversing valve construction for othersystems as desired.

Therefore, this invention is not to be limited to only the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, because the drawings are merely utilized toillustrate one of the wide varieties of uses of this invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, one embodiment of the improved reversingvalve construction of this invention is generally indicated by thereference numeral 20 and comprises a substantially tubular housing means21 having the opposed ends 22 and 23 thereof closed by like end members24 and 25 respectively having valve seats 26 that lead from the interiorof the housing member 21 respectively to conduit means 27 and 28 of apilot valve means 29 utilized to reverse the operating condition of thevalve construction 20 in a manner well known in the art and hereinafterdescribed.

A main valve member 30 of the reversing valve construction 20 isslidingly disposed in the housing means 21 and is operativelyinterconnected to a piston unit 31 in a manner hereinafter set forth,the valve member 30 when disposed in its left-hand position asillustrated in FIG. 1, having a cavity 32 thereof bridging a pair ofports 33 and 34 in a valve seat means 35 of the housing means 21 whileinterconnecting another port 36 of the valve seat means 35 with a highpressure chamber 37 of the housing means 21 that is defined betweenopposed piston heads 38 and 39 of the piston unit 31.

When the main valve member 30 is moved from the position illustrated inFIG. 1 by the piston unit 31 to the right in FIG. 1 in a mannerhereinafter set forth, the cavity 32 is adapted to bridge the ports 34and 36 of the valve seat means while interconnecting the port 33 to thehigh pressure chamber 37 thereof for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

The piston heads 38 and 39 of the piston unit 31 are formedsubstantially identical to each other and each has a flexible sealmember 40 disposed in sliding and sealing engagement with the internalperipheral surface 41 of the housing means 21 so as to define the highpressure chamber 37 between the piston heads 38 and 39 and a pair ofcontrol chambers 42 and 43 respectively between the ends 24 and 25 ofthe housing means 21 and the respective piston heads 38 and 39 for apurpose hereinafter described.

Each piston head 38 and 39 carries a poppet valve member 44 forrespectively closing against its respective valve seat 26 when movedthereagainst by the piston unit 31.

For example, referencne is now made to FIG. 6 wherein the left-handpiston head 38 is illustrated and details thereof will now be describedwith the understanding that like details are provided for the rightpiston head 39 whereby like reference numerals will be utilized for thesame parts of the left and right piston heads 38 and 39.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the piston unit 31 includes a rigid member 45formed of metal, plastic or other suitable material and has acylindrical end 46 carrying the annular seal member 40 thereon betweensuitable retaining plates 47 and 48 held to the cylindrical end 46 ofthe piston unit 31 by an annular shoulder 49 of the member 45 and aretaining ring 50, an internal peripheral portion or lip 51 of theannular seal member 40 being held in sealing engagement with thecylindrical end 46 of the piston unit 31 by an annular O-ring 52disposed in compressed relation between the lip 51 and an annularshoulder 53 of the backing plate 48. In this manner, an outer peripherallip 54 of the annular seal member 40 is disposed in sliding and sealingengagement with the internal peripheral surface 41 of the housing member21 which is substantially cylindrical as illustrated.

The end 46 of the piston member 45 of the piston unit 31 has an endsurface interrupted by an opening 56 that defines an internal endsurface 57, the end surface 57 being substantially hemispherical to matewith a substantially hemispherical end 58 of a stem 59 of the respectivepoppet valve member 44 to substantially universally mount the poppetvalve member 44 to the piston head 38.

In particular, the stem 59 holds the poppet valve member 44 spaced fromthe end surface 55 of the end 46 of the piston unit 31 and the stem end58 can swivel in substantially a universal manner within the limits ofthe opening 56 against the mating surface 57 of the opening 56 to permitthe poppet valve member 44 to self-align itself with the valve seat 26when seated thereagainst by the piston unit 31 moving to the left asillustrated in FIG. 6 whereby it is believed that improved sealing ofthe valve seat 26 is provided by the universally mounted poppet valvemember 44 of this invention.

An annular O-ring 60 is carried on the valve stem 59 of each poppetvalve member 44 in compressed relation between its stem 59 and theinternal peripheral surface 61 of the respective end 46 of the pistonunit 31 in order to hold the poppet valve member 44 in its assembledrelation in the opening 56 as illustrated in FIG. 6, the O-ring 60 beingsufficiently resilient to permit the aforementioned swivelling movementfor the reasons previously set forth.

Each end 46 of the piston unit 31 includes an orifice passage 62 thatleads from the high pressure chamber 37 of the housing means 21 to therespective opening 56 and, thus, to the control chamber 42 or 43 topermit the control chamber 42 or 43 to have the high pressure fluid fromthe chamber 37 bleed therein once the respective poppet valve member 44has seated against its valve seat 26 for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

Thus, it can be seen that it is a relatively simple method of thisinvention to make the poppet valve members 44 of this invention in sucha manner that the same are universally mounted to the piston unit 31 torespectively seat in self-aligning manner against the valve seats 26 ofthe end members 24 and 25 when moved thereagainst by the piston unit 31in a manner herinafter set forth.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the piston unit 31 has a substantiallyrectangular cutout 63 formed substantially centrally between the pistonheads 38 and 39, the cutout 63 defining vertically disposed opposedshoulder means 64 and 65 which are adapted to respectively abut againstopposed shoulder means 66 and 67 of the valve member 30 to cause thevalve member 30 to move therewith axially within the housing means 21.

However, the valve member 30 is transversally movable relative to thepiston unit 31 in the cutout 63 thereof and is urged in a directiontoward the valve seat 35 by suitable compression spring means 68disposed between flange means 69 of the piston unit 31 that extend intothe cutout 63 thereof from the opposed shoulders 64 and 65 thereof andshoulder means 70 of the valve member 30 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Inthis manner, the valve member 30 is urged by the force of thecompression springs 68 in a sealing direction against the valve seat 35for a purpose that will be apparent hereinafter.

The valve member 30 can be formed of any suitable material, such asmetal, plastic, etc., and has an annular lower surface 71 that isarcuate in cross section as illustrated in FIG. 2 between opposed ends72 and 73 thereof and is centrally interrupted by the cavity 32, thearcuate annular surface 71 being shaped similar to the arcuate internalperipheral surface 41 of the housing means 21 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

An annular projection 74 that is rigid and substantially V-shaped incross section is formed on the annular surface 71 outboard of and aroundthe cavity 32 of the valve member 30 as illustrated in FIG. 4 anddefines any suitable configuration, the configuration of the projection74 in the embodiment of this invention being substantially rectangularwhile following the contour of the surface 71 for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

An annular flexible sealing member 75 formed of any suitable material,such as a plastic material sold under the Trademark "Teflon" by theDuPont Company of Wilmington, Del., is shaped in a manner to conform tothe annular surface 71 of the valve member 30, as well as to the valveseat 35, and has an opening 76 passing therethrough to mate with thecavity 32 when disposed against the surface 71 as illustrated in FIG. 5,the sealing member 75 having an arcuate lower surface 77 which isadapted to be disposed in sliding and sealing engagement against thevalve seat 35 of the housing 21 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 1 and2.

The annular sealing member 75 has a pair of integral tabs 78 extendingbeyond opposed ends 79 and 80 of the sealing member 75 and arerespectively provided with openings 81 therethrough so as to be fastenedto the opposed ends 72 and 73 of the valve member 30 by nail-likemembers 82 which pass through the openings 81 and into openings 83 inthe ends 72 and 73 of the valve member 30 to sandwich and hold the tabs78 against the ends 72 and 73 of the valve member 30 by the enlargedheads 84 of the nail-like members 82 as illustrated in FIG. 5.

When the completed valve member assembly 30 of FIG. 5. is assembled withthe piston unit 31 in the housing means 21 of the reversing valveconstruction 20 of this invention, the force of the compression springs68 urge the valve member 30 downwardly in FIGS. 1 and 2 causing therigid annular projection 74 of the valve member 30 to engage against theannular sealing member 75 and force the same into sealing engagementwith the valve seat surface 35 outboard of and completely around thecavity 32 in substantially a line manner to conform to the contour ofthe valve seat surface 35 and thereby to effectively seal thereagainstwhile permitting sliding movement of the valve member 30 relative to thevalve seat 35 by the piston unit 31 in a manner hereinafter set forth.

The aforementioned forcing of the valve member 30 toward the valve seatsurface 35 by the compression spring 68 is aided by the resultingpressure differential that acts across the valve member 30 when a highpressure is created in the chamber 37 and a low pressure is created inthe cavity 32 as will be apparent hereinafter so that the V-shaped rigidridge or projection 74 on the valve member 30 effectively cold flows theengaged portion of the annular seal member into sealing engagement withthe valve seat surface 35 outboard of and completely around the cavity32.

Therefore, it can be seen that it is a relatively simple method of thisinvention to make the valve member 30 and its annular seal member 75 ofthis invention to effectively seal against the valve seat means 35 ofthe housing means 21.

A high pressure port 85 is formed through the housing means 21 oppositethe valve seat means 35 thereof and is interconnected to a conduit means86 that leads to the high pressure side of a compressor (not shown) of aheat pump system (not shown) while the low pressure side of thecompressor is interconnected by a conduit 87 to the port 34 of the valveseat means 35. The port 33 of the valve seat means 35 is adapted to beinterconnected by a conduit 88 to an inside coil of the heat pump systemwhile the port 36 is adapted to be interconnected to the outside coil ofthe heat pump system by a conduit 89.

The pilot valve means 29 has a conduit 90 interconnected to the suctionor low pressure conduit 87 and is adapted to be interconnected to thehigh pressure conduit 86 by another conduit (not shown) whereby thepilot valve means 29 is adapted to be operated by a solenoid means 91 ina manner well known in the art to operate the reversing valveconstruction 20 of this invention in a manner now to be described.

When the reversing valve construction 20 is disposed in the conditionillustrated in FIG. 1 wherein the left-hand poppet valve member 44 isclosing off the left-hand valve seat 26, the pilot valve means 29 is insuch a condition that the same is interconnecting the low pressureconduit 90 to the conduit 27 to maintain a vacuum on the left-hand sideof the poppet valve member 44 holding the piston unit 31 and, thus, thevalve member 30 in the position illustrated in FIG. 1 whereby the insidecoil conduit 88 is interconnected to the suction conduit 87 and the highpressure from the compressor that is being directed by the conduit 86into the high pressure chamber 37 is interconnected to the outside coilby the conduit 89. The pilot valve means 29 at this time is alsointerconnecting the high pressure from the compressor to the controlchamber 43 by means of the conduit 28.

Thus, the pressure differential acting across the valve member 30 ofthis invention by the high pressure in the chamber 37 and low pressurein the cavity 32, as well as the force of the springs 68, causes therigid rib means 74 to cold flow the engaged portion of the annularsealing member 75 into sealing relation with the valve seat surface 35completely around the cavity 32 and, thus, around the ports 33 and 34 soas to prevent any fluid leakage from the high pressure chamber 37 intothe low pressure conduit 87.

When it is desired to reverse the condition of the reversing valveconstruction 20 of FIG. 1, the pilot valve means 29 is operated by itssolenoid coil 91 to interconnect the high pressure of the compressor tothe conduit 27 and the low pressure conduit 90 to the conduit 28. Inthis manner, a suction is created in the control chamber 43 so that theresulting pressure differential acting across the piston head assembly39 causes the piston unit 31 to move from left to right in FIG. 1 untilthe poppet valve member 44 of the piston head 39 thereof closes off thevalve seat 26, such movement of the piston unit 31 causing the left-handpoppet valve member 44 to move away from the valve seat 26 and permithigh pressure to be directed into the control chamber 42 so that nopressure differential acts across the left-hand piston head assembly 38.

When the piston unit 31 has been moved to the right in FIG. 1, thecavity 32 of the valve member 30 now bridges the ports 34 and 36 so thatthe suction conduit 87 is interconnected to the outside coil conduit 89and the inside coil conduit 88 is now interconnected to the highpressure chamber 37, the valve member 30 having the rigid ridge 74 coldflow the annular seal member 35 into sealing relation around the bridgedports 34 and 36 in its new position as previously described to preventfluid leakage from the high pressure chamber 37 to the suction conduit87.

With the right-hand poppet valve member 44 now closing off the valveseat 26 to disconnect the flow of pressure from the control chamber 43to the suction side of the compressor, the control chamber 43 can nowbleed high pressure fluid from the chamber 37 through the orificepassage 62 to permit the pressure in the control chamber 43 to equalizewith the pressure in the high pressure chamber 37 so that the pistonunit 31 is held to the right only by the suction being imposed upon theright side of the poppet valve member 44. This permits the piston unit31 to be returned to the right in FIG. 1 when the pilot valve means 29again interconnects the suction conduit 90 to the conduit 27 and thehigh pressure to the conduit 28 to thereby provide a vacuum in thecontrol chamber 42 to move the piston unit 31 back to the left by theresulting pressure differential acting across the left-hand piston unit39 so that the suction in the control chamber 42 does not have toovercome any adverse suction remaining in the control chamber 43.

Therefore, it can be seen that it believed that this invention not onlyprovides improved sealing of the valve member 30 to the valve seat means35 through the annular flexible sealing member 75 and the rigid annularprojection 74, but also this invention provides improved poppet valvemeans 44 for self-aligning with the valve seats 26 to prevent fluidleakage therebetween.

Another embodiment of the reversing valve construction of this inventionis generally indicated by the reference numeral 20A in FIGS. 7-14 andparts thereof similar to the reversing valve construction 20 previouslydescribed are indicated by like reference numerals followed by thereference letter "A".

As illustrated in FIGS. 7-9, the reversing valve construction 20A isbasically the same as the reversing valve construction 20 previouslydescribed except that the piston unit 31A has each opening means 56A forits respective poppet valve member 44A defining a substantiallyfrustoconical surface 92, FIG. 14, against which the hemispherical end58A of the stem 59A of the respective poppet valve member 44A mates insubstantially circular line contact in order to universally mount thepoppet valve member 44A to the respective piston head assembly 38A or39A.

In addition, the stem 59A of each poppet valve member 44A has an annulargroove 93 formed therein and receiving an annular resilient sealingO-ring member 94 which seals against the internal peripheral surfaces61A of the end 46A of piston unit 31A while still permitting theswivelling self-aligning movement ofthe respective poppet valve member44A within the limits of the respective opening 56A.

Also, the surface 92 in each end 46A of the piston unit 31A opens to apassage 95 that is interconnected to the high pressure chamber 37A by across passage 96 that has a suitable filter 97 therein, the passages 96and 95 permitting bleeding of the high pressure to the respectivecontrol chamber 42A or 43A as previously set forth.

Therefore, it can be seen that the poppet valve members 44A of thereversing valve construction 20A are universally mounted to therespective piston head assemblies 38A and 39A as the hemispherical ends58A thereof, in effect, swivel against the respective conical surfaces92 in order to permit the poppet valve members 44A to self-align withthe valve seats 26A for the purposes previously set forth.

It can also be seen that the valve construction 20A has a leaf springmeans 98 in place of the compression springs 68 previously described,the leaf spring means 98 comprising two separate leaf springs on eachside of the valve member 30A or comprising a single member asillustrated in FIG. 13 which has two leaf strips 99 respectivelyinterconnected together by curled end portions 100 which arerespectively adapted to engage under angled surfaces 101 of the pistonunit 31A on opposite sides of the rectangular cutout 63A thereof thatdefines the shoulders 64A for abutting against the opposed shoulders 66Aand 67A of the valve member 31A to cause the same to axially move withthe piston unit 31A in the manner previously described for the reversingvalve construction 20.

As illustrated in FIGS. 10-12, it can be seen that the valve member 30Ahas integral cylindrical projections 102 extending respectively from theends 72A and 73A thereof to pass through the openings 81A in the tabs78A of the annular flexible sealing member 75A as well as through theopenings 103 in clip members 104 which are subsequently held in positionas illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12 by upsetting or turning over the ends105 of the projections 102 to securely fasten the clips 104 and annularsealing member 75A to the valve member 30A. Thereafter, tangs 106 of theclips 104 are bent over the body portion of the annular sealing member75A as illustrated in FIG. 12 to distribute the holding force of theprojections 102 over a relatively large area of the sealing member 75A.

However, the sealing member 75A performs a sealing function for thevalve member 30A in the same manner as the sealing member 75 of thevalve member 30 previously described as the annular surface 71A of thevalve member 30A has the annular V-shaped rigid projection 74A thaturges the sealing member 75A into its cold flow sealing condition underthe force of the leaf spring means 98 and the pressure differentialacting across the valve member 30A as previously set forth.

Therefore, it can be seen that the reversing valve construction 20A ofthis invention functions and operates in the same manner as the valveconstruction 20 previously described to provide for reversing a heatpump system or the like whereby the operation of the valve construction20A will not be described.

Therefore, it can be seen that this invention not only provides animproved reversing valve construction, but also this invention providesan improved method of making such a reversing valve construction or thelike.

While the forms and methods of this invention now preferred have beenillustrated and described as required by the Patent Statute, it is to beunderstood that other forms and method steps can be utilized and stillfall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a method of making a reversing valveconstruction having a housing means provided with a chamber carrying amovable valve member therein that controls port means of a valve seatmeans of said housing means through the relative position of a cavity ofsaid valve member relative to said port means, said port meanscomprising first, second and third ports disposed in spaced apart andstraight line relation and said cavity bridging said first and secondports while exposing said chamber to said third port when said valvemember is in one position thereof and bridging said second and thirdports while exposing said chamber to said first port when said valvemember is in another position thereof, said valve member carrying aflexible annular sealing member that is disposed between an annularsurface of said valve member and said valve seat means and surroundssaid cavity to seal said cavity to said valve seat means whilepermitting sliding movement therebetween, said housing means carryingbiasing means that is operatively associated with said valve member andsaid housing means to urge and flex said sealing member into sealingengagement with said valve seat means so as to tend to sealingly conformsaid flexible sealing member to the contour of said valve seat means,the improvement comprising the steps of forming said valve member tohave a rigid annular projection that extends from said annular surfacethereof and that engages an annular portion of said annular sealingmember outboard of and around said cavity, forming said annular sealingmember from a plastic material that has cold flowing characteristics,securing said annular sealing member to said valve member only in areasthereof that are remote from said engaged portion thereof so that saidengaged portion is adapted to move relative to said rigid annularprojection, and cold flowing said engaged portion of said annularsealing member into said sealing engagement with said valve seat meansby the action of said biasing means and said rigid annular projection.2. A method of making a reversing valve construction as set forth inclaim 1 and including the step of forming said annular projection tohave a substantially V-shaped cross-sectional configuration.
 3. A methodof making a reversing valve construction as set forth in claim 1 andincluding the step of forming said annular projection to define asubstantially rectangular outline.
 4. A method of making a reversingvalve construction as set forth in claim 1 wherein the step of securingcomprises the step of securing a pair of opposed tabs of said annularsealing member to said valve member.
 5. A method of making a reversingvalve construction as set forth in claim 4 and including the steps ofproviding a pair of opposed clip means to be carried by said valvemember, and respectively holding opposed portions of said annularsealing member that are remote from said engaged portion thereof to saidannular surface of said valve member with said clip means.